Spec.-Ed. Bill Seeks More Say for W.Va. Teachers

The West Virginia legislature was close late last week to passing a
bill that would give regular-education teachers more authority in
determining how the mainstreaming of special-needs students shapes
their classrooms.

The legislation mandates that regular teachers have a hand in
crafting both their schools' special-education programs and their
students' individualized education plans. It would also allow teachers
to call meetings of a student's I.E.P. committee when they see fit.

The House has already passed the measure, and the Senate was slated
to vote on it late last week. Senators could approve the House bill,
which would clear the measure for Gov. Gaston Caperton, or amend it,
which would lead to a conference committee to resolve differences.

The legislation grew out of complaints from regular-education
teachers about the way districts have been implementing inclusive
practices, according to Kayetta Meadows, the president of the West
Virginia Education Association.

More broadly, the West Virginia bill reflects a growing restiveness
nationally on the part of teachers' unions toward efforts to educate
more students with disabilities in regular classrooms.

The American Federation of Teachers late last year called for a
moratorium on the "full inclusion'' movement. (See Education Week, Jan.
12, 1994.)

Teachers, Not Nurses

In West Virginia, Ms. Meadows said, teachers have not even been told
which of their students have special needs, in addition to not
receiving the necessary training or staff to respond to those
needs.

The legislation also addresses teachers' fear of inclusion, Ms.
Meadows suggested, by making them a part of the planning process.

"They want to be trained,'' she said. "They want to know what's
expected of them.''

Under the proposed law, each school's faculty would develop a
"strategic plan'' for bringing students with disabilities into regular
classrooms. County superintendents would then create a district plan
incorporating the school plans.

The legislation also would require school districts to provide
personnel to take on some of the medical duties, such as dispensing
medicine and changing tracheal tubes, currently performed with
increasing frequency by teachers, and to offer medical training to
teachers.

"Teachers feel they're being hired to teach,'' Ms. Meadows said,
"not to be nurses in the classroom.''

Devastating Costs Feared

The potential cost of the measure has stirred concerns both in the
legislature and among local educators.

Del. Roman W. Prezioso Jr., who sponsored the legislation, said
lawmakers are troubled by the provision that would take some medical
responsibilities away from teachers.

Putting more medical professionals into the schools to perform those
tasks could be expensive for districts that are already unable to
provide enough health workers, Mr. Prezioso said.

"It's slowed the legislation down,'' he said.

Another potentially expensive provision would require that schools
reduce class sizes as they bring in special-needs students.

In Wood County, for example, the resulting increase in teacher pay
and benefits alone would cost up to $1.1 million a year after the first
year, according to Lora Swarr, the district's supervisor of
special-education services.

Delegate Prezioso predicted that current special-education funding
levels would be able to cover cost increases in the first year. But Ms.
Swarr said she has her doubts.

"Without proper funding,'' she said, "this would be devastation for
our county.''

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